


A-Romantic Arrangement

by crystalmoonvibe



Category: Original Work
Genre: Acespec Character, Aromantic spectrum, Arospec character, Asexual, Contemporary Writing, Demiromantic, Fantasy Realism, High School, LGBT, LGBTQ, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, Teen Fiction, non binary, she/her they/them, young adult
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:28:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23252470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crystalmoonvibe/pseuds/crystalmoonvibe
Summary: Down by the river is where you'll find,for never a love of any kind.Seek their wisdom, knowledge or powerand fret not, for their words won't sour.~Lucè Wyrzykowski, a high school senior has had few secrets, but none as big as the power she was "gifted" at birth.Her whole life she has lived knowing whose relationships will and won't fail, and it's taken a toll on her.Now in her final years of high school, the stress and anxiety of becoming an adult have destroyed any of the small shreds of self-esteem she once had.Now she must find a job, a real, all the while her ungrateful classmates take advantage of her, just to find out whether or not they are with the one.Of course, Lucè never has understood her classmate's insatiable need for romance, because her other biggest secret is one that would disappoint everyone around her that held her dear...or hoped to get into her pants.
Kudos: 1





	1. Prologue

They say that your memories are something that you should try to remember so that you can look back on them.

_"R_ _iveria, no."_

That a lesson can be learnt from every situation you face, no matter how insignificant you may think the situation is at the time.

**_"Awe come on Lu."_ **   
_"Please I don't want this."_

That every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

**_"I thought you loved me."_ **   
_"I do, but love can be...other things."_

That everyone will accept and you, bo matter who you, because it doesn't define you, it's just who you are.

**_"If you won't let me, I'll make you."_ **

That the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.

_"No. Stop."_

That the one you trust the most with your deepest, darkest secret would see that as you final word and not try to argue otherwise.

**_"Shut up you brat."_ **

That understanding your place doesn't mean you have to lay down and beg for what should be rightfully respected.

_"Please donmph-"_

That the one you choose to love should treat you with the utmost of importance as to try to keep you in their life and keep you safe.

**_"There, that should keep you quiet."_ **

That there is always someone who will come to aid in the time of need.

_No. Stop. Stop. No._

Too bad they were lying...


	2. 1. Many Memories

"No." the scream echoed up the empty halls as the cool night air stung the young lady's sensitive skin.   
Panting, she looked around her almost empty room, her hair tickling her shoulders as her head swung rapidly, making her heart rate accelerate. 

"Is everything okay Lucè?" the soft masculine voice came through the paper-thin wall behind the young lady.

Sucking in a few deep breaths, the lady replied, "Yeah-yeah padre, everything is fine, you can go back to sleep." her voice was less shaky then the previous weeks of the same reoccurring dream.

Waiting until she heard the bed creak in the next room, which would mean her father had turned over to go back to sleep, Lucè carefully removed her covers, reaching for the scrunchy on her bedside table, she tied her hair up into a ponytail, letting a few strands hang free around her ears. Swinging her legs over the edge of the bed, her toes touched the cold ground and almost at once, Lucè felt a sense of calmness wash over her whole body.  
 _You are safe. You are at home. She can't hurt you here._  
She tried to remind herself, knowing it would not do much to quell her noisy brain that was now making her wide awake.   
Sighing in defeat, she got up and tiptoed over to the desk in the far corner of the room, careful not to steep on the creaky floorboard right near the chair. A quick glance over the cluttered desk and Lucè located her phone, sitting at the edge of the desk, tittering half off, she wasn't sure how it hadn't fallen to the ground.  
Unplugging the chord, the screen lit up causing Lucè to blink rapidly so that her eyes could adjust.  
2:30 am the screen read.  
With a shake of her head, Lucè placed the phone back on the desk, her heart still racing a hundred miles an hour, she knew any attempt to sleep would result in failure.

"Why can't I just be normal?" she mumbled, quietly pulling the chair out, she slid in the seat feeling around for the button that would turn her desk lamp on. Once she found it, knocking some papers onto the floor in the process the area filled with a warm, yellow light. A smile spread across the shaken lady's face as she searched for a pen. 

_Found it_ , she rolled the small object between her forefinger and thumb before placing the tip on the blank page in front of her.

_My Dearest Guardian Angel,_   
_If you are watching over me right now, reading this letter as I write it please just give me a sign._   
_I don't know how much longer I can take these horrid nightmares_   
_Stopping she shook her head, crossing out 'nightmares' before continuing._   
_̶n̶i̶g̶h̶t̶m̶a̶r̶e̶s̶ memories._   
_Every night I see her face, the same beautiful face I fell for, or I thought I did at least._   
_These memories always start out so beautiful whether it's a walk to the park, a picnic under the stars, even just our little study sessions at school. Alas, they all end the same way, with her, forcing me to do something I don't want to._   
_Please, just give a sign, tell me when it will stop. I want it to stop. Please make it stop._

Her eyes clouded over with a sheen of tears. She tore her gaze from the sheet of paper in front of her, desperately looking for something else that could distract herself. But alas, in a room that was empty, spar a desk, a bed and a wardrobe, nothing could stop the pain that ensued after writing yet another letter to a being who wasn't even real.   
Forcing her gaze to wander back to the half-finished letter, she crossed out the last line of writing before continuing.

̶ _I̶ ̶w̶a̶n̶t̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶s̶t̶o̶p̶.̶ ̶P̶l̶e̶a̶s̶e̶ ̶m̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶s̶t̶o̶p̶.̶_  
 _I know that you probably can't stop this and that I need to "man up" and "face my memories" or "just get over it"...but it's so hard when it has consumed your whole being, your whole existence._  
 _Of course, you can just fake it till you make it, right?_  
 _☆ Lucè_

With a sigh, Lucè folded up the letter and shoved it into the top draw of her small plastic draws under her table.  
Tucking the stray hairs behind her ear, she stared at the boring grey wall in front of her.

"I guess I could get some homework done now that I'm awake," she muttered to herself, swivelling her body to dace her schoolbag which was hanging on a hook on the side of her wardrobe just beside the desk.  
Unlatching the buckle, she pulled out a notepad and placed it quietly on the desk and buckled the bag back up.  
Flipping out the cover, she groaned, "Cursed math homework," she muttered, flipping to her most current page of questions she was sent home with. 

Getting lost in her homework, Lucè didn't even know it was breakfast time, granted her room had no windows until there was a knock at the door.

"Lucè, are you going to come down for breakfast?" her father's voice sounded like it was coming from right behind her, but when she turned she saw the room was empty and her door was still closed.

"Yeah padre, I'll be down a couple of minutes." She replied, closing her notepad. _How did I note realise it was morning already? Did I work through my normal alarm? Why didn't I hear my alarm? Was I really that absorbed in my work?_ Her mind spiralled as she absent-mindedly packed her bag back up. Pulling the bag from its hook, she shoved the notepad in before rushing down the stairs.

Sliding into the kitchen, she took a seat beside her mother, staring at the plate in front of her. It was filled with eggs and toast that was cut into thin portions, between the two ingredients sat an egg holder.

Lucè stared down at the plate and then looked back up at her father who was pouring himself a coffee, "Soldiers today, Padre?" Again? she added in her head, poking on of the toast portions.

"Yes, Lu, soldiers today. They're your favourite, right?" Her father sat across from her, taking a sip of his coffee as he cracked one of his eggs open.

"Of course darling, they've been your favourite since you were so young," her mother added, dipping a portion of bread into her egg and popping it into her mouth.

Lucè hummed in response to her mother's statement, "Yeah Padre, they're my favourite," she replied with a forced smile before cracking one of her eggs open.

As they ate their meal, Lucè zoned out of her parents morning discussions. 'I wonder if they'd even notice if I'd disappear.' she scoffed to herself quietly, _Not that it matters since their marriage will fall apart soon anyway_.

Lucè hated the fact that she knew her life was going to go to shambles, about four years before hand she had gotten the vision of the perfect couple she had most dreaded. The only problem was, that couple wasn't her parents, it was her father and his best friend. She wished, hoped and begged that this had just been a false vision, a hocse of her terrible state at the time, but afyer the vision she started tp notice small changes in her parents behaviour towards each other that she had completely missed prior.  
They rarely talked unless she was around, they only ate meals together. Their interests never matched up, she didn't even know how she hadn't noticed that their personalities as a whole didn't match. Her father was strict, always business never fun. Her mother was loving, caring and peaceful, a hard worker but not business oriented. Now that she though of it, not once in her life had her parents agreed on an activity that they could do together as a family.   
Her mother would suggest something like a game night and her father would object, stating that 'game nights were a waste of time' or one of his favourite responses was 'how is Lucè ever going to get anywhere in life if all she knows to do is play games, she should be studying'. That was one of her father's most consistent arguments, to drag his poor daughter into the middle of the conversation when all she ever wanted was to be left out of the fighting. 

Once she had finished her breakfast, Lucè said a quick goodbye to her father who had to leave for work.

"Don't listen to your father or take anything he says to heart my little light, he doesn't want to accept that his little girl is all grown up now," her mother's voice pulled her from her half dazed state. 

Lucè just nodded, pushing the chair out, pulling her bag off the frame of the chair before slinging it over her shoulder, "Yeah Mam I know, he "loves me" and "only wants the best for me". You tell me that every morning that he goes to work, but how long will it take him to realise I'm not little Lucè who can't take care of herself? I'm strong and able to take care of myself," turning her back to her mother, she left the room before she could get a response.


	3. The Uniform Way Of Life

Trudging back up the stairs she slung her bag down outside the door of her room, quickly rushing back in to change into her uniform. Often-times she wished that she had the confidence to walk around the schoolyard in the shorts she begged her parents to buy her, but she never did. Opting for the more girly skirt that was just long enough to cover the important things, but did nothing much else for the girls who wore them, _We get a uniform code breach if we wear black socks but these ridiculously short skirts are fine, god this is disgusting_. The same thought ran through Lucè's mind every morning that she got changed in front of her mirror.   
The standard of a uniform for a girl at her high school was skimpy, a blouse that doesn't leave enough to the imagination, a short skirt or pair of shorts for summer, a pair of stockings under said skirt for winter and a lousy school jacket. Only white socks for girls and hard black leather shoes. It wasn't the most modest uniform but it was better than nothing.

"Stupid board of studies, why can't you have more respect for young women. High school should be like primary school, girls and boys both getting to wear the same uniform," what I would do for a polo shirt on a day like this. _Now, where did I put my jacket?_ Searching around her room for a few minutes before letting out a huff, _why don't you ever put things back where they belong, Lucè?_

A soft knock came from her doorway, "Lucè, sweety. Are you looking for this?"

Lucè looked up and saw that her mother was holding her jacket out in front of her. She nodded, standing up and retrieving the jacket from the older woman. "Thank you, Mam," she wrapped her arms around the woman, engulfing her in a hug, "I don't know where I'd be without you helping me in the morning."

"Certainly not getting to school on time, now come on child, you won't be able to meet that nice boy friend of yours if you don't leave now. He might leave without you this morning." The older woman leant down and picked up her daughter's bag, placing it in her hands before stepping out of the girl's way.

"Thanks, Mam," Lucè slung the jacket over one shoulder and her bag over the other, rushing back down the stairs, the door slammed behind her as she rushed across the driveway, gravel crunching under her feet.

Letting out a puffed breath, Lucè stood at the local bus stop, leaning against the small shelter she sucked in the crisp morning air.

"Are you ever early hey Seerie?" an airy voice asked from behind the puffed out girl.

With a roll of her eyes, Lucè flipped the person off before slipping on her jacket, "Shut up Circè," her response was met with a scoff from the recipient.

"Don't call me that, you know that isn't my name."

"Then don't call me Seerie, that's not my name either."

 _Hmph_ , was the person's response as they picked up the puffed out girls bag for her, "You know Lu, if you were earlier sometimes, maybe you would be readily waiting for me and not throwing on your jacket and catching your breath as I walk up."

 _Whack_.

"Ow, what was that for?" rubbing his shoulder, the person glared at the shorter girl in front of him.

"Because, you sound like my mother and I don't need two of her around, now come on or we'll actually be late to school." slinging her bag over her shoulder, she started down the street closely followed by the taller boy.

Their walk consisted of silence that morning, just the sound of rubber on the tarmac as cars zoomed past filled the void until they were a block before the school.

"Hello Clemintine, Lucè. How do you do on this fine morning?" a frail voice called from the front of a small house.  
The two teens stopped, turning to face the direction of the call.

"Good morning Quince," Clemintine replied as Lucè gave a small wave, "we would love to stay and talk, but we have school."

The older male just nodded and smiled, "Go quick then, a bell went not too long ago."

The two teens said a quick good-bye before continuing on their way.  
The school was nothing special, made of orange-yellow bricks with multiple buildings, as well as stand-alone classrooms which the board of studies insisted be called demountables. The demountables were basic, white walls, long windows and blue doors. They stood separate from the rest of the bricked school blocks.

Speed walking through the back gate of the school which was left open for seniors, the two teens by-passed the science and CAPA blocks before heading into the office.

A quiet groan from Clemintine made Lucè feel bad that she wasn't a little earlier for their commute to school. In front of the teens was a line of their peers, waiting to get late slips for the administrative ladies in the print room. Normally this wouldn't be a problem for the two if they were a little late since the senior logbook was at the front where the main administration where anyone else was to sign in. Today's issue was their peers not following the strict single file line rule the office had for late arrivals. Blocking their way was a ground of girls, who didn't look like they'd move no matter how nicely they were asked.

"I heard that their powers are all fake, some fraud system just to get cash out of desperate people," one of the girls closest to the two seniors said, catching Lucè's attention.

Clemintine tried to push ahead still but she tugged his hand, shaking her head no, 'I want to know if they're talking about me' she mouthed once he had looked at her.

Frowning, Clemintine let out a silent huff, falling back next to his friend.

"No, Matt told me the other week that he went to see them find his soulmate and they told him that it would be no girl he fancied for looks. Sure enough, two days ago he turned up to our get together at the local park with this half-decent looking thing and claimed that it was his partner." A girl closer to the front of the group responded.

Celmintine raised an eyebrow and Lucè shrugged.

'Later,' the shorter teen knew her friend liked to hear about her customers and their stories, though he had requested that she never look into his soulmate, no matter how often she offered him the chance for free.

"If they're so good, then why don't they show their face? Or have a partner in crime?"

Lucè was sure these were juniors, maybe eigth graders, _you wouldn't say the same if you lived with this your whole love sweetie, trust me._

Lucè had tried her hardest when she finally realised that she had a gift to find her own soulmate. For months she was distraught that she couldn't find her own forever partner until she accepted it. _Maybe I'm not meant to love someone, just show everyone else that someone out there will love them, they'll just have to wait to find that someone was,_ her constant thought at the time. Now that she had matured, she honestly couldn't care for who her soulmate was. Whether their existence was real no longer weighed her down, all that she cared about was completing her senior year.

"Lucè come on," a tug on her hand brought her out of her head as Clemintine basically dragged her over to the sign-in sheet.

Lucè stumbled but caught herself before she could fall. As she finished signing her name the girls that were in front of the two of them walked out of the small corridor that led to the print room.

"Fine Jacey, but I still don't believe that some woman who hides her face could tell me who my future lover is, but if it will make you happy I'll join you on your trip to see them."

Clemintine let out a chuckle from beside Lucè, "Looks like you'll have five mean girls, to deal with next time you open up for business," he mumble-whispered so that no one could hear him.

Lucè ignored him, starting for the exit of the office as the shrill bell rang signalling the start of the school day, "See you at recess Clem," she rushed to the science block to line up for her class.


	4. The Language Of Love 2.0

Like all of the classroom buildings, the science block was two stories, the bottom level had three lab-classrooms and two hospitality rooms, this morning Lucè was not lucky enough to be down near the doors, her first class for the morning, Italian. Up the stairs was mostly normal rooms, down the other end of the corridor was two more lab-classrooms. The other six rooms were just normal classrooms, with the two on the same side as the labs being coined the "Languages" rooms as it was most often where language classes were held.  
Students shouts sent Lucè almost deaf as she waited for the teacher to let her class into their room. After a few more minutes of waiting, a shorter woman with vibrant red hair pushed through the sea of students in the corridor, her laptop and a few books held close to her chest. Getting to the classroom door, she unlocked it letting the class in following behind Lucè who was at the end of the line.

Once all the students were seated and had their notepads out, the woman smiled, "Welcome back to Cresentville High for your final years of education, for those of you who I have never taught, I am Ms. Larink. As it is your first day of class, today we will revise the basics-"

Lucè zoned out, knowing how the teacher's spiel went, _After three years straight of Italian, I wish they'd give me a different teacher_.   
It wasn't that Lucè hated the teacher, she was always nice to her, but it would've been nice to have a change for her final year of education.  
Her eyes skirting around the room, she noticed that the class had shrunk since the previous year, * _at least five students have dropped out, I wonder why. If the class gets any smaller they might cancel it_ *, a frown found its way onto the teens face.

For the rest of the period, Lucè remained in her thoughts, idly coping what the teacher was writing on the whiteboard. Towards the end of the lesson, most of the students had packed their possesions in their bags awaiting a quick get away once the bell went.

"Did I tell you all to pack your things away?" Ms. Larink asked, her judgemental gaze sweeping across the room, "Why can't you all be more like Lucè, she waits for the teachers instruction before packing her things."

In a split second, several pairs of eyes pierced holes through Lucè skin, making her feel as though she'd commited a crime by simply being on auto-pilot.   
Rushing to pack her things so that her peers would stop staring at her, she managed to knock her pencilcase onto the ground, pens and pencils scattered out from it under the empty desk in front of her.

 _Clang_ , the sound of the bell reverberated through the corridor as her peers rushed out of the classroom from around her.   
Sighing Lucè managed to get her book into her bag before bending down to pick up the spilt contents of her pencilcase.

"Here, I picked up the ones that got over near me," a feminine sounding voice said from in front the crouching girl.

Lucè looked up and smiled, "Uh, thank you."

"No problem."  
Lucè picked the last thing off the ground and quickly retrieved the rest of her belongings from the girl, she zipped up the pencilcase and shived it in her bag, "Hey, I'm Lucè by the way."

The girl shifted from one foot to another, "I'm Luma, anyway, I think we should both get going, our next period is about to begin, see you around maybe." the girls turned and walked away, though she seemed to more float than take the heavy steps that Lucè did.

_What a strange girl._

Exiting the science block, she made a beline for the geography block. _Studies of Religion...fun._  
Rushing to the back on the building and entering it, she bolted up the flight of stairs, managing to reach the classroom in time to look like she was at the back of the line the whole time.  
The teacher gave her a look of disapproval as she entered the classroom. The biggest difference between most of the blocks in the school were how the classrooms were set up. The langague room was very uniform, everythig in straight formation, facing the teacher's desk that was in front of the Smart Board, which never got turned on. The room that Lucè had just entered had be rearranged, the teachers desk now sat off to the left of the room in front of the storeroom entrance so that it wasn't blocking off the whiteboard that the projector had to use. Other than that, the tables were essentially the same, lined up around twent centimetres apart each way facing the whiteboard.  
Taking a seat right at the front under the window, Lucè took out her notebook and opened it up.

After another fifty minutes of idle note copying anf listening to the teacher drone on, the bell for recess rang. Students rushed from the room oce more as Lucè walked alwly towards the door to avoid being trampled.  
Once she got out of the building, she made a left and headed fown the edge of the oval to wait for Clemintine.  
Taking a seat on the concrete, she opened her bag and pulled out a muesli bar.

"So how was Italian with Larink?" her friends voice called as he neared her.

"It was alright."

"Anything interesting happen? I know she absolutely loves you to bits."

Lucè rolled her eyes, in tenth grade Clemintine had decided to take Italian with her and he absolutely hated it. They had Ms. Larink and she always called on him due to being Italian.  
"Yeah. She pointed me out for being a model student and then I made a fool of myself."

"How so?" Celmintine chirped, sitting across from his friend.

"I knocked my pencil case off the table and all of my stationary went everywhere," Lucè avoded his eyes so that she didn't have to see him try not to laugh at her clumsiness.

Taking in a deep breath, Clemintine regained his posture, "And no one stopped to help you pick anything up, not even Larink?"

"Actually, a girl did, she said her name was Luma."

"Oo. Is she new?"

Lucè scoffed, she could never understand how she had befriended such a social butterfly, "I don't know. She's new to Italian. I didn't know they were letting others join new subjects since its our last year, we got told we can drop a subject, but not replace them," she stated, popping the last of the muesli bar into her mouth.

"What did she look like?"

Lucè held up a finger, signalling for her friend to wait until she had finished chewing.   
"I don't know, I didn't really pay attention," this was a lie, if there was one thing Lucè did best, it was pay attention to the little things when it suited her.

"You and I both know that you're lying, so spill."

 _Damn, he knows me too well_ , "Fine, but promise not to go looking for her just so that you can flirt with her," she knew full well that he would go looking for the girl even if he said he wouldn't, because that's just who Clemintine was.

With a pout, Clemintine nodded his head, "Fine. I promise I won't," he took a swig from his water bottle before looking back at Lucè with concentration in his eyes.

Reluctantly she began, "Luma, she's around the same height as me, she has short blonde hair and that's all I got."

"You're lying. Come on Lu, we both know that you're great at taking in people's features," the boy pressed, leaning closer to his friend.

"No, that's all I saw. Honestly. We only talked for a couple of seconds and I was kind of distracted, sorry that doesn't help you with your romancing Clem," the bell rang to signal the end of the break.

Standing, Lucè straightened her blouse so that it wasn't creased. Adjusting her bag strap, she felt a tug near her leg. Her eyes widened as she turned to face Clemintine who had a smirk on his face.

Putting his hands up to protect his face he opened his mouth, "Your skirt was hitched up at the back and those idiots over there were staring at you," he stated quickly, pointing in the direction of the cola.

Quickly glancing to where her friend had pointed, Lucè could see a group of younger boys pointing at her and whispering to each other.   
"You're lucky this time."

Clemintine put his hands down, "What? No thank you?" he asked rhetorically as they walked towards the back entrance of the english block.

 _Scoff_ , "Thank you ever so kindly for doing what any decent human would in your situation. Oh most valiant and noble Clemintine," her words coated in sarcasm as she stopped and did an over dramtic bow at the top of the stairs.

"Yeah yeah Lu, I get it. Come on, Ms. Pollard doesn't like students who turn up late," he prompted, picking up the pace of his walking.

Lucè chuckled, following in suite.


End file.
